Agenda of Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Meeting

Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Meeting item: 7.3

6 June 2023

TITLE:	CEG Chairs Report
From:	Jenny Calder, Emergency Management Recovery Specialist; Graeme MacDonald, Emergency Manager; Sarah Boniface, Emergency Management Specialist; Bill Hutchinson, Emergency Management Specialist; Laura Exton, Emergency Management Specialist – Kaipara; Evania Arani, Emergency Management Specialist; Brendon Gray, Emergency Management Specialist - Tsunami Projects and Zach Woods, Emergency Management Communications Specialist
Authorised by Group Manager/s:	Jim Lyle, Acting GM - Community Resilience, on

Whakarāpopototanga / Executive summary

This report provides a summary of activities undertaken by or directly related to the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group over the period since the last CEG meeting in November 2022.

Ngā mahi tūtohutia / Recommendation

That the report ‘CEG Chairs Report’ by Jenny Calder, Emergency Management Recovery Specialist; Graeme MacDonald, Emergency Manager; Sarah Boniface, Emergency Management Specialist; Bill Hutchinson, Emergency Management Specialist; Laura Exton, Emergency Management Specialist – Kaipara; Evania Arani, Emergency Management Specialist; Brendon Gray, Emergency Management Specialist - Tsunami Projects and Zach Woods, Emergency Management Communications Specialist and dated 25 May 2023, be received.

Background/Tuhinga

INDEX OF REPORTS Page

1. Bereavement 22

2. Activations and Response 22

3. CDEM Group Operations 26

4. Whangārei District CDEM Update 28

5. Far North CDEM Update 29

6. Kaipara CDEM Update 30

7. Welfare Coordination Group Update 30

8. Northland Lifelines Group Update 31

9. CDEM Communications Update 31

10. Recovery 32

11. Tsunami Siren Testing 32

12. Community Response Planning Update 33

13. Multi-Agency Coordination Centre 34

14. Tsunami Siren Replacement Project Update 34

15. Professional Development 35

1. BEREAVEMENT

John Titmus, who was the MCDEM and NEMA representative on this group since its inception in 2003 passed away on 23 April 2023. John will remembered for his active engagement and support of the Northland CDEM Group, and the relationships that he had across the CDEM sector.

2. ACTIVATIONS AND RESPONSE

Jenny Calder, Response Specialist

Cyclone Hale

On Monday 2 January 2023, MetService issued both a Heavy Rain and Strong Wind Watch for Northland. This was upgraded to a Heavy Rain Warning – Orange on Tuesday 3 January as we expected 110 to 160 mm of rain to accumulate in the north and east and 200 to 250 mm expected for eastern hill areas. After 36 hours of rainfall, the weather warning was lifted on Thursday 5 January.

CDEM monitored the weather system, shared information and updates with stakeholders, agencies and community groups. Surface flooding occurred in some areas with a number of rivers reaching flood thresholds before receeding.

Both Waka Kotahi and Northland Transport Alliance attended to and resolved incidents throughout the network, with a majority of reported incidents being trees down. Agencies and stakeholders operated in enhanced BAU to manage the impacts, with no Civil Defence issues to report.

On Sunday 8 January 2023, a depeening subtropical low weather system was named as Cyclone Hale. At 8pm on Monday 9 January, the MetService issued a Heavy Rain Warning - Orange for Northland. Water levels in rivers were already up due to rain the previous week so were monitored closely by the CDEM Duty officer and Northland Regional Council Hydrologists.

Northland CDEM provided updates and information as it came to hand and attended National updates to ensure both regional and national overview was maintained. A small number of local roads were closed due to flooding and slips, and flights into and out of the Whangārei airport were cancelled.  SH1 and 15 were also impacted with slips and flooding respectively. 

Agencies and stakeholders operated in enhanced BAU to manage the impacts.

The weather warning was lifted on Tuesday 10 January at 9pm.

On Thursday 26 January 2023, a Heavy Rain Warning – Orange and thunderstorm watch was issued by MetService for a period of 24 hours. Agencies, stakeholders and communities were updated of the incoming.

Late afternoon on Friday 27 January CDEM was advised of flash flooding in Maungaturoto. One home was impacted, and the occupants evacuated to stay with family.

On Saturday 28 January, the MetService issued further Orange weather warnings, with both severe thunderstorm and strong wind watches.

The weather system was moving relatively slowly, bringing a lot of rain which was a cause for concern considering the water tables and river levels were still high from the amount of rain through January.

On the morning of Sunday 29 January, the MetService upgraded the weather warning to a Red Heavy Rain Warning. The watch for Severe Thunderstorms and Strong Winds remained.

Metservice were predicting rainfall amounts of 120 to 170 mm in the north and east (with lesser amounts in the west). Localised falls were predicted to reach 170 to 270 mm with peak rates of 10 to 20 mm/h (mainly in the north and east). Further Localised falls were predicted to increase 25 to 40 mm/h for a period of 27 hours from early Tuesday 31 January through to early Wednesday 1 February.

With the upgraded weather warning, Northland CDEM team activated the ECC, commenced planning and moved to advise stakeholders, agencies and community response groups, and public information was shared through multiple media channels.

A multiagency meeting was scheduled to ensure a coordinated multiagency response and to provide situational overview for all partners and agencies. Additional resources rom NZDF were requested.

A State of Emergency for Northland was declared at 1pm Tuesday 31 January. An Emergency Mobile Alert to advise and inform the public was sent to mobile phones.

Fortunately, the weather (rain and wind) did not reach the levels forecast, however the impacts to the region included flooding, damage to the roading network and multiple road closures, including Brynderwyns (SH1), trees down in some areas and a number of power disruptions. Agencies and stakeholders worked to ensure restoration of services as quickly as possible.

The State of Emergency was lifted at 10am Wednesday 1 February.

Cyclone Gabrielle

On Wednesday 8 February 2023, the MetService advised a Tropical Cyclone was expected to bring severe weather to northern New Zealand from Sunday (12 February) onwards. This weather system was named as Cyclone Gabrielle.

Initial forecasts indicated the weather impacts would be felt in Northland from early Sunday 12 February with more significant impacts being felt from Monday 13 February. This was identified through a Heavy Rain Watch received on Thursday 9 February.

The GECC stood up and commenced planning on Thursday, linking with stakeholders and partners, calling a multiagency meeting and getting information out to the public to enable communities to plan and prepare for the incoming weather.

Agencies and stakeholders also commenced their planning, providing updates into the GECC. The first sitrep was sent from the GECC on Friday 10 February. All three district councils began preparing to stand up EOC’s. Requests were made to NZDF for resources and NEMA for surge staff.

Over the weekend, the rainfall warnings moved to Orange and then to a Red Warning on Sunday 12 February. As Cyclone Gabrielle was tracking close to the coast, higher localised rainfall accumulations were forecast, and the wind warning also updated to a Red warning. This weather was expected to be over Northland through to last Tuesday 14 February.

As the Cyclone made landfall, impacts across Northland included flooding, downed trees, major power outages, communication outages. slips, roading network damage and closures. Evacuations occurred in low-lying areas of Dargaville on both Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 February.

In preparation for the incoming weather and likely impacts a State of Emergency declaration for Northland was made, effective from 4:30pm 12 February. This was later rescinded as a National State of Emergency was declared at 8:43am, 14 February, including Northland. The state of national emergency was extended on Tuesday the 21st of February, Tuesday the 28th of February, and Tuesday the 7th of March, with each extension lasting an additional seven days. On 3 March, the State of National Emergency concluded for the Northland Region.

The weather warnings for Northland were lifted on Wednesday 15 February.

The response for Gabrielle commenced the transition into recovery over the later part of the week 20 – 24 February.

Mangawhai Severe Thunderstorm Event

Between 12 noon and 10 pm on Friday 24 February 2023 the Hakaru at Tara rain gauge near Mangawhai recorded 373 mm of rain, with 240 mm recorded in the 3-hour period from 5 pm. High intensity rainfall from thunderstorm activity occurred in and around Mangawhai causing flooding and damage to roads.

Roads into and out of Mangawhai were cut off, and several road users were trapped in vehicles either because of slips or flood waters.

Kaipara District Council Civil Defence Emergency Management set up in Mangawhai two evacuation centres and centres were set up in Waipū and at Kaiwaka. Two community led centres were also set up in Mangawhai. These centres provided overnight shelter and welfare assistance. Temporary overnight accommodation was arranged at two of the youth camps in in Mangawhai. Overall, several hundred people were estimated to have made use of these facilities.

Fire and Emergency NZ carried out several rescues as cars were driven into flood waters. Two Unimog’s and a Swift water rescue team were also deployed from Auckland, and both were stood down and returned to Auckland shortly after 11.00 pm.

By 11.00 pm the thunderstorm activity moved away to the south and the rain eased. State Highway one was blocked at Topuni by flooding and slips overnight but has reopened this morning. Several local roads were damaged including the Cove Road and Kaiwaka – Mangawhai Roads.

For the period 12 noon to 10 pm Friday 24 February Brynderwyns had 40 mm of rain. This second weather event within days of Cyclone Gabrielle caused major damage to some of the minor roads and disrupted one of the alternate routes into Northland whilst the Brynderwyns were closed. Debriefs across agency and for the Group Emergency Operations centre are scheduled within the next month.

NRC has also provided several support surge staff to assist in the Hawkes Bay response and recovery. These include CDEM and other NRC staff.

February – May Weather events

Cyclones Judy and Kevin sitting to the North of New Zealand were reported by MetService on 26 February 2023. Initial forecasts showed the potential for one or both cyclones to make landfall on Northern New Zealand early March. The GECC actively monitored these weather systems. Fortunately, both weather systems passed to the Northeast of New Zealand.

The MetService also advised of thunderstorm warnings for Northland. These thunderstorms bought localised downpours to a number of areas across the region for the evening of Monday 27 February.

On Friday 28 April 2023 the MetService issude a Heavy Rain Watch and a Strong Wind Watch for Northland. This was upgraded ot a Heavy Rain Warning - Orange on Saturday 29 April, with the strng wind watch remainin in place and easterly gales forecast.

The warning was lifted on Monday 1 May, however a Heavy Ran Watch was again issued for Northland the following day, increasing to a Heavy Rain Warning – Orange on Wednesday 3 May. These warnings remained in place through to Saturday 6 May when the weather eased.

Northland ECC stood up multi agency briefings from Tuesday 2 May to enhance a coordinated and collaborated response and provided information to stakeholders and the public.

An IMT, located at the Kaitaia Fire Station was established Wednesday 3 May, with the FNDC EOC activated on Thursday 4 May.

During the period through to Saturday 6 May, some power unplanned outages occured, however these were restored relatively quickly while flooding and multiple road closures occured across the district. Impacts were predominantly in the far north and north west areas. Resources from the NZDF, NEMA nand FENZ deployed into the region to assist were released on Saturday 6 May once the threat of severe weather had passed.

The next weather warning came through on Monday 8 May 2023 advising of Severe Thunderstorm Watch. Later the same day, MetService issued a Heavy Rain Warnig – Orange for Northland which was to remain in place through to the evening of Tuesday 9 May.

On Tuesday 9 May, a multi agency meeting was held by the GECC to provide regional coordination. Information was shared with stakeholders and via public channels.

The GECC stepped into monitoring mode and was ready in support of the district council. An IMT was tood up at the FNDC to actively monitor the weather system and subsequet impacts.

Widespread flooding and road closures occurred across the region. Although no whānau were asked to evacuate during this weather event, a community led welfare centre was opened in Moerewa to support impacted whānau and delayed travellers.

This weather system cleared Northland late Tuesday 9 May.

Transpower lines risk

On 27 February 2023 Transpower advised of a potential risk to the high voltage lines coming into Northland and the intended mitigation. Northland CDEM proactively shared information to enable businesses to check business continuity plans and for the public to take steps to prepare households. The CDEM team were poised to support the lead agency in the event a power failure occurred.

Tsunami Advisory - Kermadec trench earthquake.

At 12.59 am on Saturday 12 November the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a Tsunami Threat Message for a 7.3 m earthquake, at 12. 42 pm 10 km deep in the Kermadec Islands.

The initial message from the PTWC included an assessment that hazardous tsunami waves from the earthquake were possible within 300 km of the epicentre along the coasts of - Kermadec Islands.

At 1.06 pm NEMA sent out a National Advisory: Earthquake being assessed with general guidance to the public.

At 1.12 pm NEMA sent a second National Advisory : Earthquake being assessed message with update content including details of the earthquake origins.

A third duplicate message was also sent at 1.26 pm.

The PTWC released a final tsunami threat message at 1.43 pm advising that there was no longer any tsunami threat from this earthquake.

At 1.57 pm NEMA issued a National Advisor: No threat to New Zealand. (1 hour and 15 minutes after the event).

The concerns previously expressed to NEMA officials regarding the relevance of the Long or Strong Get Gone message, the delays and confusion of messaging and the inclusion of PTWC assessments into NZ information have again been raised with NEMA officials. It should be noted that the trvel time for a tsunami from the southern end of the Kermadecs to Northland is approximately 45 minutes and up to 2 hours for the northern Kermadecs.

3. CDEM GROUP OPERATIONS

Graeme MacDonald, Emergency Manager

Ministers visit.

On Tuesday 2 May the Minister for Emergency Management Hon Kieran McAnulty, the new Deputy Chief Executive of NEMA John Price and several Wellington officials visited Northland. The Minister meet informally on the Tuesday evening with the CDEM Professionals for the region and took the opportunity to thank them for the work that had gone into the Cyclone Gabrielle response and more recent responses.

On Wednesday 3 May the Minister hosted a breakfast meeting with Mayors, Chairs, Chief Executives and members of the Northland CDEM Group. This was an opportunity to discuss a number of matters from the recent Cyclone Gabrielle response and recovery.

CDEM Personnel

Since the last meeting Damian Rio has taken up the role of Emergency Management Specialist. Evania Arani has moved into the Welfare Specialist role and there is currently a vacancy for Emergency Management Specialist (Whangarei). Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe who has been on secondment from the police since the middle of last year has completed his secondment and has returned to the Police. During his secondment Cliff has developed a Tsunami Response Plan focused on actions after a significant inundation. He has also facilitated public information boards and increased awareness of tsunami risks to Northland amongst police people. Cliffs deployment has also strengthened and enhanced the operational relationship between police and CDEM.

Appointments - Controllers, Local Welfare Managers and Local Recovery Managers

The recent series of weather events, and the prolonged nature of the Cyclone Gabrielle response highlighted weaknesses or more accurately the lack of appointments to Controllers roles, at both Local and Group level, Welfare Managers and appointments of Local Recovery Managers.

The previous Group Welfare specialist had been working on strengthening the knowledge and capacity of Local Welfare Managers. After the past six months and the number of events we have been faced with this year we have now had resignations from members of the Far North and Whangarei District Council welfare team. Group Welfare Specialist, Evania Arani is planning to work with the district councils over the next quarter to build on the capacity and capability in the welfare space.

The Whangarei, Kaipara and Far North Councils all appointed new Local Recovery Managers after the response to Cyclone Gabrielle. Either no pre-event appointments for recovery managers had been made, or those that were appointed were not considered for the appointments .

In the past 12 months three Group level controllers have left the NRC, and there has been a number of changes in local level controllers. (Note: Two qualified Controllers from outside the Northland region were brought in as surge support to Kaipara and Far North District during the response phase to Cyclone Gabrielle).

Three new appointments for Controllers, one local and two group are included in the CDEM agenda for approval. Louisa Gritt, Jenny Calder as Group Controllers and Ken Ward as a Local Controller in the Far North District.

Deployments

Four NRC people were deployed to Hawkes Bay during March to assist during the National State of Emergency - Candice Rameka (Bio Security), Grace Calder (Bio Security) Lahi Hapu (Environmental and Reg Services) and Jenny Calder (CDEM) were deployed into various locations and roles to provide much needed surge support. In addition, Jenny Calder has volunteered, whilst on annual leave, with Task Force Kiwi for two separate weeklong periods to provide clean up assistance to home owners and businesses.

Evania Arani and Jenny Calder were invited by NZ Police to Operation Waitangi from 4 – 6 February as observers to provide comment on the IMT set up. This was invaluable in continuing to cement interagency relationships and opportunities for CDEM to provide support.

CDEM Forum

Jenny Calder, Response Specialist

On Wednesday 3 May, Northland CDEM hosted the annual CDEM Forum with over 250 delegates at Semenoff Stadium. Following a hiatus in 2021 due to the Covid Omicron resurgence, the opportunity to meet kanohi ki te kanohi was welcomed by those attending.

The Forum began with a Mihi Whakatau, led by FENZ, and formal opening by Cr Kelly Stratford, Chair, Northland CDEM Group.

A thought-provoking presentation was made by the keynote speaker, David Parson, Director, Crisis Management Australia. This was followed by sector and Iwi updates, presentations from GNS, NZMAT, NZ EMAT, Taskforce Kiwi, USAR, NRC and CDEM’s very own Brendon Gray who updated the Forum on the current Tsunami Project.

Forum attendees were from across the rohe, representing a number of marae and community groups, agencies and sectors, making for a successful day as shown in the graph below.

We thank all our speakers, partner agencies and supporters who made the Forum possible and we look forward to hosting the event again in 2024.

4. WHANGĀREI DISTRICT UPDATE

Damian Rio, Emergency Management Specialist (EMS) and Evania Arani, Emergency Management Specialist (EMS) now Welfare Specialist

Activities undertaken by the Whangarei Emergency Management Specialists for the past six months have been centred around back-to-back monitoring and response to the impact of ongoing severe weather events. Whangarei District Council have activated their Civil Defence Emergency Operations Centre three times over this time after a number of events impending the district.

Our priority and focus have been in supporting communities with Community Response Planning because of what has been occurring.

Community Engagement Activities

Community and engagement activities for the past six months include:

Ÿ Bi-Annual Tsunami Alarm testing

Ÿ Ongoing engagement with the Pārua Bay Community Response Group to complete an update of their Community Response Plan.

Ÿ Attendance at the Tutukākā Community Response Group meeting

Ÿ Ongoing engagement with the Hikurangi Community Response Group to finalise their updated Community Response Plan.

Ÿ Waipu Community Response Group Meetings - Cyclone Gabrielle Debrief and discussions around plan review.

Ÿ Whananaki Community Response Group Meetings – Cyclone Gabrielle Debrief and discussions around plan review.

Ÿ Mangakahia Community Meeting – Meeting to re-establish a Community Response Group.

Whangārei District Council CDEM Capacity and Capability

The Whangarei District Council annual exercise will be held on 26 May at the Whangarei Cricket Pavilion. This exercise is being planned and rolled out by Gerrard Moore. At the time of writing fifteen Whangarei District Council Staff have registered to attend.

5. FAR NORTH UPDATE

Far North CDEM Activities – Sarah Boniface, Emergency Management Specialist Far North; Bill Hutchinson, Emergency Management Specialist Far North

Activities undertaken by the Far North Emergency Management Specialists for the past quarter have been centred around back-to-back monitoring and response to the impact of ongoing severe weather events, (x 8) including being part of and supporting Incident Management Teams in Emergency Operations Centres that have been established in both Kaitaia and Kaikohe and the response to three tsunami advisory threats.

Our priority and focus have been in supporting communities with Community Response Planning because of what has been occurring.

Summary of meeting and activities undertaken include:

· Community and Community Response Group Meetings (includes reviews of community response plans) Moerewa, Okaihau, Kawakawa, Tapuaetahi, Waimamaku, Panguru, Russell

Te Hiku Development / Whiti Te Muka engagement relative to addressing family harm during emergency events.

Mental Health Association – advice on emergency planning

Anne West Kindergarten - Evacuation Plan Assistance,

Keynote Speaker – NZ Business and Professional Women’s National Conference

Keynote Speaker – Parengarenga Inc – Engagement post and during emergency events

· Attendance at FENZ meetings re Cape Reinga Wildfire outcome

· Far North District Council CDEM Readiness and Preparedness meetings x 3

· Community Weather Event De-briefs (Rawene, Kawakawa, Karikari)

· Attendance at Council and Stakeholders Weather Event Debriefs

· Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Meetings

· Bi-Annual Tsunami Alarm testing

· Attendance at Lifelines and Welfare Coordination Group meetings

6. KAIPARA UPDATE

Laura Exton, Emergency Management Specialist – Kaipara

It has been an incredibly busy year thus far in the Kaipara District – as it has been across the entire region.

The Kaipara District was one of the worst affected areas in Te Tai Tokerau during the February extreme weather events (this encompasses Cyclone Gabrielle, as well as the Mangawhai Thunderstorm event on Friday 24 March), with many communities isolated for days, and Civil Defence Centres and Community Led Centres being established across the district. You can see a full overview of the Kaipara District Council’s response in Attachment 1: ‘Kaipara District Council February Extreme Weather Events Response Overview.’

Following these events, the focus has been on facilitating debriefs with the Kaipara District Council and with Kaipara communities, and taking up engagement opportunities to educate the community on personal preparedness, re-engage with dormant Community Response Groups, or support the creation of new ones.

The following engagement has taken place:

• Thursday 12 January – Glinks Gully – starting a new Community Response Group

• Tuesday 28 February – Mangawhai Community Response Group debrief

• Tuesday 28 February & Monday 27 March – Pouto, reigniting their Community Response Group

• Friday 17 March – Kaipara District Council Emergency Operations Centre staff debrief

• Wednesday 22 March & Tuesday 28 March – Kaiwaka debrief and onboarding a new CRG coordinator / members

• Monday 17 April – Ruawai Community debrief

• Thursday 27 April – Dargaville Community Organisations debrief

• Monday 1 May & Monday 15 May – Baylys Beach Community Response Group information session – starting a new group

• Tuesday 9 May – Te Kopuru – meeting with an interested community member to get a group formed

• Wednesday 10 May – Kaipara District Council Elected Members induction and feedback session

There are also multiple existing active Community Response Groups who are refreshing their Community Response Plans, and applying for funding for preparedness items and activities through the various funds available in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.

An action plan is being created for the Kaipara District Council to capture the actions and learnings gleaned from the February extreme weather events, and turning it into an actionable, prioritised plan for response improvement.

7. WELFARE COORDINATION GROUP (WCG) UPDATE

Evania Arani , Emergency Management Welfare Specialist

The WCG next meets on 1 June 2022. Items on the agenda include the following.

Presentations

· Rural Support Trust – Ex tropical cyclone response and recovery in the rural sector,

· Kaitaia Incident Management Team Iwi liaison – Iwi operational lens.

Group Discussion

· Six months of events – Lessons learnt and what be done differently.

· Cluster leads will provide updates on the Work Programme.

Local Welfare Managers (LWM)

Rachael Hill, previous Group Welfare specialist had been working on strengthening the knowledge and capacity of LWM. After the past six months and the number of events we have been faced with this year we have now had resignations from members of the Far North and Whangarei District Council welfare team. Group Welfare Specialist, Evania Arani is planning to work with the district councils over the next quarter to build on the capacity and capability in the welfare space.

8. NORTHLAND LIFELINES GROUP UPDATE

Laura Exton, Emergency Management Specialist – Kaipara

The Northland Lifelines Group (NLG) met on Friday 24 March. The core focus of this meeting was to debrief from the recent Cyclone Gabrielle and Mangawhai Thunderstorm event, reflecting on what was done well, what could have been done better, and opportunities for improvement.

Some core themes were:

· For most, this was the most significant response since Cyclone Bola in 1988.

· As a group, the NLG worked together well to share information and coordinate resources.

· Regular meetings of the NLG is vital for a successful, coordinated response. Strong relationships are key.

· Daily NLG meetings during Cyclone Gabrielle were essential to maintaining collaboration and a common operating picture.

· There is more work to be done regarding prioritisation of key transport routes or critical infrastructure assets in Te Tai Tokerau.

· Hazards from trees were a critical issue during Cyclone Gabrielle – Northpower estimated that approximately 99% of the damage to their network was caused by vegetation and trees. They also blocked roads, restricted access to critical infrastructure and services, and posed a high risk to the safety of crews working to clear roads or restore critical infrastructure and services. They also damaged underground infrastructure when uprooted.

· The NLG Chair, Sarah Irwin, made a submission on behalf of the NLG regarding MBIE’s proposed amendments to the Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003.

The next Northland Lifelines Group meeting is to be held on Friday 28 July.

9. CDEM COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE

Zach Woods, Emergency Management Communications Specialist

Media / Social Media and Webpage Visits

CDEM Facebook page insights, Jan 1 –May 1, 2023:

Ÿ Page visit: 296,765

Ÿ Facebook Page followers: increased 7,841

Ÿ Total FB page followers as of May 2023: 37,161

Ÿ Estimated page reach*: 447,288

*This is provided by Facebook and is based on the number of people who saw any content from your Page or about your Page.

These stats followed the usual trend of increasing around larger weather events. The most notable increases were around Cyclone Hale Jan 9, State of Emergency and Red Heavy rain warning Jan 31, and of course Cyclone Gabrielle – which saw a significant increase in reach and views from Sunday 12 Feb to Thursday Mar 2, when the national state of emergency ended.

The majority of communications from Civil Defence Northland since the last meeting have focused on the response to and recovery from weather events – with the exception of Tsunami siren testing and some media on the new Tsunami sirens.

The most viewed and engaged with posts have predominantly centred around infrastructure and impact updates related to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Northland CDEM Web section insights, Jan 1 –May 1, 2023:

Ÿ Total page visits: 45,321

Ÿ Most popular sections visited: In an Emergency,15,951

Ÿ Most popular topics in that section: is it open or closed, 9,054

Ÿ What’s the latest news: 3,577

Ÿ Food safety in power cuts and floods: 1,614

The website views followed a similar trend to the Facebook page and increased during weather events – infrastructure updates (mainly roading) and impacts were also the most sought-after information.

Media

There were also numerous media updates and engagements during all of the recent weather events. Interviews on RNZ and More FM Northland were the majority of radio engagements. NZ Herald (mostly via the Northern Advocate) and Stuff published articles containing Civil Defence Northland updates during these events – mostly sourcing these from our Facebook page but engaging with us for any further comments or questions when required. Newshub and One News interviews were also utilised during these events.

Two Emergency Mobile Alerts were issued over this period – both to announce regional states of emergency. The first on January 31, 2023, 1:54 PM, the second February 12, 2023, 4:30 PM.

10. RECOVERY

Mark Trüdinger, Emergency Management Recovery Specialist

· Worked with more than 500 key stakeholders to prepare the Cyclone Gabrielle 2023 Regional Recovery Plan for Northland / Te Mahere Whakaoranga mō Te Tai Tokerau.

· Facilitated regular meetings with Local Recovery Managers, Welfare Coordination Group (as the Community Wellbeing Recovery Programme Group), Lifelines (as Critical Infrastructure Recovery Programme Group), and coordinated with Northland Adverse Events Team (as Rural Recovery Programme Group).

· Worked with CDEM Chair to form the Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Governance Group.

· Plan included contributions drawn from more than 300 community members, whose voice is woven throughout the Plan.

· As possible ‘firsts’, the Plan includes a joined-up approach by the rural sector about actions they will take, as well as by Lifelines/critical infrastructure of steps they will take to increase resilience for future extreme weather events.

· Have presented the Plan’s strategy, content, and community engagement model to the CDEM sector, with multiple online workshops for other Recovery specialists, Group Recovery Managers, CDEM Group Managers, and community engagement teams (approx. 100 registrants). Also presented a dedicated session to Auckland Emergency Management.

· Completed Part 1 of the Response and Recovery Leadership Development Programme (‘RRANZ’; Massey University/NEMA course).

· Have been asked to present our approach to Recovery at future RRANZ courses, and the equivalent emergency management sector leadership course in Australia.

· Have been asked to write up our approach for Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal.

11. TSUNAMI SIREN TESTING

Laura Exton, Emergency Management Specialist

The twice-annual tsunami siren network testing occurred on Daylight Savings, Sunday 2 April 2023. The test involves activation of the network at 1000hrs for 10 minutes, and again at 1030hrs for 30 seconds. The lights flashed for the full duration of the test. This ensures the network is operating as per design specifications, and also provides an opportunity for Northland CDEM, Northpower, and Top Energy Control Centre staff to practice activation procedures.

Emergency Management Specialists from all three districts, along with the Northland CDEM Communications Specialist, coordinated various methods of advertising in the lead up to the testing with included advertisements on various media channels and engagement with volunteer community response groups.

Both networks (Northpower and Top Energy) were successfully activated on the day.

The Emergency Management Specialists for each district are working through the test results and actioning those that need addressing with the relevant network operator.

12. COMMUNITY RESPONSE PLANNING GIS INTEGRATION UPDATE

Sarah Boniface, Emergency Management Specialists

Community Response Planning

Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (NCDEM) have utilised the contracting resources of Raewyn Smythe to help assist in the updating of the Community Response Plans in particular around the financial arrangements during and after a response. Work is currently focused on the plans in the Far North and once completed attention will be given to the Whangarei District Council and Kaipara District Council plans.

Interactive Map

Towards the end of 2022 Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (NCDEM) in conjunction with the Northland Regional Council GIS team created a Community Response Plan interactive map/viewer. The platform has been designed to be a live public facing portal displaying the spread of community response groups and Marae preparedness groups across the Northland region. Unfortunately this has not been able to be completed due to the Northland CDEM ongoing response to emergency events and staff changes within the Northland CDEM and Northland Regional Council GIS team.

Marae Preparedness

The Marae Preparedness plan refresh has now been completed. The Northland CDEM team had scheduled to work with a cross section of Marae groups across the Far North in January and February of this year to undertake further planning and consultation using the new template. The team had also planned to consult with a number of key stakeholders and partners before launching a week long roadshow in March to promote the document. This has been postponed due to a number of events the team have had to monitor and respond to this year.

Post Ex Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle there has been a huge demand from Marae requesting plans, advice, and support. This has made this piece of work a priority and with that in mind and while the demand is there the team has sought feedback from a number of key people, at the time of writing this report, no feedback has been received and CDEM staff have made the decision to start working with the interested groups to undertake Marae preparedness planning. The document has been created in template form with suggested text to help with the development of the plan, however Northland CDEM will continue to support Marae with what best suits their individual planning needs and arrangements.

13. MULTI AGENCY COORDINATION CENTRE

Graeme MacDonald, Emergency Manager

Multi Agency Coordination Centre

A meeting was held with the FENZ Deputy Chief Executive Sarah Sinclair, the NRC Chief Executive and personal involved in the Multi Agency Centre proposal on 21 April. The purpose of the meeting was to understand FENZ and councils’ position on the development of the MAC.

A site visit was undertaken, and discussion was had around the various options for establishing an ongoing agreement for ownerships and occupancy. Before any agreement can be reached more work is required on the approach and delivery model.

A further meeting was scheduled on 26 May 2023, to discuss FENZ and council options for ownership and ongoing occupancy and discussing if there is common ground to proceed.

14. TSUNAMI SIREN REPLACEMENT PROJECT UPDATE

Brendon Gray, Emergency Management Specialist – Tsunami Projects

PowerPoint presentation.

15. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Jenny Calder, Emergency Management Response Specialist

Northland CDEM have a series Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) and related function courses planned for throughout the 2023 calendar year to align with the training fund provided by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The following table shows attendance numbers for the completed March corses, and attendance booked for May, July, September and November courses.

Chart, bar chart

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There has been increased demand for training post Cyclone Gabrielle however during 2022 all courses were undersubscribed despite efforts from the Emergency Management Officers repeatedly impressing on council staff the importance of attending and completing training.

Of the 100 CIMS course places offered during 2022, only 58 were taken up by councils, key partners and agencies.

For 2023 all CIMS4 courses are full however the exercise days are particularly lacking in uptake and there is still capacity for staff to attend functions training days.

The table below shows the Training schedule for 2023 and intended course participation numbers.

Date	Course	Course Capacity	Registrations
22 May	CIMS 4	20	20
23 May	CIMS 4	20	20
24 May	EOC/Response Manager	14	14
25 May	Planning	14	14
26 May	Exercise - WDC	25 +	22
24 Jul	CIMS 4	20	20
25 Jul	CIMS 4	20	20
26 Jul	Welfare	14	6
27 Jul	Logistics	14	12
28 Jul	Exercise – FNDC	25 +	3
11 Sep	CIMS 4	20	20
12 Sep	CIMS 4	20	20
13 Sep	Welfare	14	7
14 Sep	Intelligence	14	14
15 Sep	Exercise – FNDC	25 +	3
13 Nov	CIMS 4	20	20
14 Nov	CIMS 4	20	20
15 Nov	Planning	14	7
16 Nov	CIMS 4	20	20
17 Nov	CIMS 4	20	20

CDEM team training

The CDEM team continue to work with Winsborough to strengthen both individual and team resilience.

Laura Exton is continuing her Diploma in through Massey University and Brendon Gray is completing He Papa Reo.

Deployments

Evania Arani and Jenny Calder were invited by NZ Police to Operation Waitangi from 4 – 6 February as observers to provide feed back on the IMT set up. This was an invaluale opportunity and further cements the working relationship between agencies.

Attachments/Ngā tapirihanga

Attachment 1: Kaipara District Council February Extreme Weather Events Response Overview ⇩

NZ Police Representative Superintendent Tony Hill	NRC Councillor Jack Craw	FNDC Councillor Kelly Stratford
WDC Mayor Vincent Cocurullo	FENZ Representative Wipari Henwood	NEMA Representative Chloe Marshall
KDC Councillor Gordon Lambeth

TITLE:	Confirmation of Minutes - 29 November 2022
From:	Erica Wade, Personal Assistant - General Manager Community Resilience
Authorised by Group Manager/s:	Louisa Gritt, Group Manager - Community Resilience, on

TITLE:	Receipt of Action Sheet
From:	Erica Wade, Personal Assistant - General Manager Community Resilience
Authorised by Group Manager/s:	Louisa Gritt, Group Manager - Community Resilience, on

TITLE:	Membership and appointments – Northland CDEM Group
From:	Graeme MacDonald, Emergency Manager
Authorised by Group Manager/s:	Jim Lyle, Acting GM - Community Resilience, on

TITLE:	NEMA – Update since November 2022
From:	Graeme MacDonald, Emergency Manager
Authorised by Group Manager/s:	Jim Lyle, Acting GM - Community Resilience, on

TITLE:	Cyclone Gabrielle Response and recovery
From:	Mark Trudinger, Emergency Management Recovery Specialist and Brendon Gray, Emergency Management Specialist - Tsunami Projects
Authorised by Group Manager/s:	Jim Lyle, Acting GM - Community Resilience, on